Blissful, Blissdom Women’s Online Communities
Are you here in Nashville for Blissdom – the great conference for women bloggers?
If so, look for me – I’m wearing the Girlfriendology orange flower.
There’s about 500 of us female blissful bloggers who are passionate about the blogosphere and social media. We’re poken-ing (a social media tool for connecting), sharing, connecting and learning together (in true Girlfriendology women-supporting-women fashion).
First, a HUGE thanks to the sponsors who made this affordable for all of us to attend:
I’m thrilled, honored and humbled to be included in a panel about ‘Community Chest – Learning from the Community Powerhouse Sites.’ (Thanks Barbara, Alli and Paula for including me!) We’re each sharing a Top 5 List and so I thought I’d share mine with you. (And to see everyone else’s, check out these great women and their amazing women’s communities below.)
Five Community MISTAKES to avoid – From someone with much more than five mistakes in her community-building past!
- Not knowing your community & what they want: Survey them, ask what they’re looking for and how you can make their life better. Listen. Learn from similar communities (or those in different categories).
- Not building for brands: If your goal is monetization, go into it knowing that and accepting that responsibility. Don’t be negative, unprofessional (typos, topics they might want to avoid). Unless it is your brand, avoid controversial topics like politics or religion.
- Not building for long term: Where will you be in 5 years and where do you want your community to be? (Build with the ‘end in mind’/Steven Covey) – “Mommy” or not? Solo or with partner(s)? What business model? Know where you want to be in 5 years and move toward that.
- Not being careful or smart about who you trust/partner with: Evaluate and research when it comes to technology, people, references, workload, and commitment to the project. Find good partners – make sure they understand your vision and budget.
- Trying to go it alone and expecting a community to find you: Partner with other companies/bloggers whom you respect and who can offer support/synergy. Market yourself – learn from what others are doing. Don’t be shy – you have a voice and a community needs a leader.
Want to see their fabulous top five lists? Visit their sites – they’ll post them in time for the Blissdom session!
1. Janice Croze: www.5minutesformom.com (Top 5 Tips For Being Purposeful in Building Your Community)
2. Erin Martin Kane: www.manicmommies.com (Top 5 Ways a Community Can Grow Your Brand or Business)
3. Rachael Herrscher: www.todaysmama.com (Top 5 Tips for Engaging With Your Community IRL)
4. Jennifer James: www.mombloggersclub.com (Top 5 Community Rules I Live By)
Fabulous Females leading amazing online communities for women:
Janice Croze – @janicecroze
In 2006, Janice Croze and her identical twin sister, Susan Carraretto, created 5 Minutes for Mom.com and it quickly became a go-to site for moms that entertains and informs, while promoting the online mom community. The Wall Street Journal listed 5 Minutes for Mom as the 2nd top parenting blog and it has placed in the Top 100 in Technorati. Janice and Susan also own two successful e-commerce stores, http://www.PedalCarsandRetro.com and http://www.A-Rocking-Horse-To-Love.com and a threaded video conversation called, Say it Face to Face.com. Janice is mom to Jackson and Olivia, and she tweets from @5minutesformom and @janicecroze.
Holly Hamann – Moderator – @hollyk
Holly is co-founder of BlogFrog, a web2.0 start-up offering social and community tools for websites. She has spent her career launching start-ups in the Internet, bio-tech, entertainment, and other high-tech industries. She has spent many years studying internet and social media use by teens, GenY, and women. She is a public speaker, contributing writer on technology and marketing to various publications, is an American Marketing Association “Marketer of the Year” recipient, and guest blogger for The HuffingtonPost. She holds a BA in Mathematics and Computer Science and completed graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Colorado and blogs about technology and life with teenagers on her blog Breadcrumz.
Rachael Herrscher – @todaysmama
Founder TodaysMama.com (a publishing company and online community for moms), Entrepreneur.com blogger at presspass.entrepreneur.com, wanna be tech geek, mama of 3.
Jennifer James – @mombloggersclub
Jennifer James is the founder of the Mom Bloggers Club, one of the largest social networks for moms who blog, as well as the founder of other niche social networks for moms from gamer moms to moms who vlog. The Mom Bloggers Club has been featured on CNN.com, BrandWeek, NPR, and was included in Nielsen’s Spring 2009 Power Moms 50 List. Jennifer has been creating niche sites for moms since 2003, started blogging in 2004, and entered the world of social networking in 2007. She now serves as a social media strategist to individuals, small companies and large brands.
Erin Kane, Manic Mommies @emkprgal
Thanks Blissdom for this amazing experience and opportunity!
Tags: 5 minutes for mom, Blissdom, blogfrog, conference, Manic Mommies, mom bloggers club, Online Communities, today's mama, women bloggers, women's online communities
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3 Comments
Thanks for those great tips.
I agree it is so important to partner with someone you can trust. I’m lucky to have a built-in partner with my twin sister. LOL
Great site! Share with all!
I think all these resources are good and useful to me. Thank you so much for your sharing.
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